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Congress: Gun hurdles

“The hurdles begin with the House, where anti-regulation Republicans still dominate, and continue into the Senate where, in addition to Republican opposition, vulnerable Democrats up for re-election in 2014 have not openly supported any change in the law,” USA Today writes, adding, “While several prominent Republicans have publicly said there needs to be an examination into what cultural and policy failures have contributed to the recent spate of mass shootings, few have said they would support renewing the ban on assault weapons or limiting high-capacity magazines.” More: “Among Republicans in the Senate, only Sen. Susan Collins of Maine has said she would support renewing the assault weapons ban, according to National Journal.”

National Journal: “Collins is unusual among Republicans in stating outright that she supports some types of weapons bans. Other Republican senators either ran away from reporters or waffled when peppered with questions about it on Tuesday.”

Outgoing Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) is now in favor of a federal assault-weapons ban, but he likely won’t vote on any gun congressional measures.